it is said that Dallas was responsible for the end of communism in Romania.  So the legend goes…. former Romanian communist leader Nicolae Ceausescu was so sure that the Romanian people would find "Dallas", the TV drama, to be such a visualisation of the absurd depravity of capitalism that they might be content with communism.  

Pictured: many of the original cast of Dallas the TV Show (L-R: Bobby Ewing, Pamela Barnes, Miss Ellie Ewing, Clayton Farlow, JR Ewing, Sue Ellen Ewing, Jock Ewing).

Of course it did not quite work out like that; it became a top-rated show on Romanian (state) TV, and the people instead saw all the fun things of capitalism - the cars, the houses, the consumer goods, the great outfits and said, "we'd like some of that too!".  And for Ceausescu, he died a fairly unpleasant death when the country rose up against him shortly afterwards.  The slightly tricky thing for Ceausescu was that whilst his people lived in communist poverty, he lived in the largest palace in Europe…. with allegedly 17,000 light bulbs.  That is the problem with communism*/socialism* (*delete as appropriate) - "the party always knows best", until the people work it out.

We normally make an annual pilgrimage to the home of capitalism - New York.  The idea is to listen to what people are talking about, because the investment themes you hear in New York will eventually, or quickly, permeate around the world.  The last time we were there (January 2025), we just had the impression that New York wasn't the only place in the States that mattered any more - and that we needed to visit some of the newer centres of capital - hence, a few days in the Lone Star State, Texas.   Texas, due to its beneficial tax arrangements, has attracted a number of companies to leave California and New York - with many of their employees.

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